Shannon rubbed her nervous palms against the front of her wool skirt before knocking on the Managing Partner's heavy oak door. Her heart leapt in her chest and she struggled to keep her breathing under control. She had been on edge for hours -- ever since she returned from lunch and found his email waiting for her.
She could never remember feeling like this. Feeling so uncertain. So timid. She had been a partner in the firm for 10 years. She was known for her legal acuity and her withering cross examinations. Shannon had graduated magna cum laude from a prestigious law school and had clawed her way to the top of a local bar that was still heavily male-dominated. Her success bred an unshakeable confidence that bordered on arrogance. In her power suit and heels, which accentuated the brunette's trim fit figure, Shannon looked every bit the shark she had become. Yet, Shannon now felt like a little minnow as she waited for the Managing Partner to beckon her inside his office.
"It was that email," Shannon thought absently -- her pulse pounding mercilessly. Returning from a power lunch with her best client, Shannon was surprised that only one new email had populated her inbox. It was from Richard -- her colleague who had been chipping in with firm management ever since his legal practice had floundered through a sagging economy and a lack of personal ambition. Richard was a bit of a joke at the office -- a warning to young lawyers not to neglect their clients and referral sources. He was an aging has-been, clearly on his way out. In fact, Shannon had started quietly polling and lobbying her partners to replace him.
Usually, she deleted his emails without opening them. Most were irrelevant all-hands communications related to the status of the parking lot repaving, or kitchen cleanliness, or file-saving protocols, or any number of other boring subjects. But this one had a red flag and appeared addressed only to her. Shannon was still tempted to click the X that would relegate it to the trash can, but found that she simply couldn't. Sighing in annoyance, Shannon opened the email. The screen pulsed ever so subtly as the words stood out in sharp contrast:
READ THIS. REPORT TO MY OFFICE AT 6:00 P.M. SHARP.
Without thinking, Shannon clicked the attachment which was in a file format she did not recognize. Her eyes fluttered and she lost any semblance of conscious thought. Images and words washed over her for the next hour. At 2:00 PM, Shannon awoke from her trance with a start. The file was gone. All that remained were the words:
REPORT TO MY OFFICE AT 6:00 P.M. SHARP.
Shannon rolled her eyes. "Who is he to be giving me instructions?" she sneered.
He is the Managing Partner,
came the response in her head,
who are you to disobey?
" Shannon sat in her office chair thunderstruck by a reply so aptly spoken.
"I am the firm's leading rainmaker!" Shannon thought -- wondering why she felt compelled to defend her professional record to herself.
Think again, young lady. You owe everything to the Managing Partner.
Shannon tried to clear her head.
You owe everything to the Managing Partner.
That wasn't right. Richard may have introduced her to a client or two, but she had built her practice all by herself and was the future of the firm.
Are you sure about that? How could a silly girl like you have done all that?
Shannon bit her lower lip -- her confidence shaken for the first time. "I am not a silly girl," she said out loud and softly stamped her heel against the commercial carpeting.
You ARE a silly girl and a naughty one at that. Whispering ill words about the Managing Partner.
A wave of shame washed over her. "I, I didn't do anything like that..." she pleaded, her voice uncertain.
Be a good girl and tell the TRUTH.
Shannon pressed her lips together. She didn't want to engage in this internal dialogue any further. "Emmmm," she mewled desperate to resist. Still, a flood of memories haunted her. All of her delicate machinations at staff meetings... the subtle digs in email exchanges... as she consolidated support and power within the firm. All at Richard's -- errr, the Managing Partner's -- expense. The Man to whom she owed so much.
I see the truth in your eyes, girl. NOW, tell me what you did.
Unable to resist any further, words spilled from her as her eyes watered. Shannon revealed every whisper, every slight, and every betrayal. She wrung her hands sick with herself. She had never felt so ashamed.
Hush now, naughty girl. You have admitted it to yourself. At 6:00 P.M, you will confess it to Him. The Managing Partner will know just what to do.
Shannon's cheeks burned in shame. Her mouth went dry dreading the confession she knew she had to make. She thought about His eyes -- how disappointed they would be with her. She could not believe she could let Him down like this.
I am a silly girl and a naughty one at that. I want to be a good girl and tell the TRUTH. The Managing Partner will know just what to do.
That final thought made her pussy twinge for the first time.
The afternoon crept slowly as the winter sun softly descended outside the windows of Shannon's corner office. She squirmed in her chair, chewing her lip, and feeling like a wayward schoolgirl who had a date with the headmaster's office. She thought about Richard -- how she had misjudged Him, how she had taken Him for granted, how she had failed to appreciate Him for everything He had done to advance her fledgling career. Shannon knew she could never match his accomplishments. And she was embarrassed that she had put on airs. But no, He saw right through her. He saw the silly, naughty girl playing dress-up in her power suit. He was a lion and she a lost little lamb. How she yearned to confess and find her way back into his good graces.
The Managing Partner will know just what to do.
Her pussy lubricated.
"ENTER!" Shannon was shaken from her reminiscence by the sharp command of the Managing Partner. Her hand shook as she turned the brass doorknob.
The Managing Partner sat at his desk with the sleeves of his dress shirt rolled up and his arms folded. He glared at her and arched an eyebrow.
Shannon wilted under his gaze. This close to Him, the shame of her actions compounded tenfold. She could not hold his gaze or stop her legs from trembling atop her 5-inch heels.
"What do you have to say for yourself, young lady?" the Managing Partner calmly intoned.
Shannon could barely blubber a proper response. "I, I, umm, I have been a naughty girl, Sir." Her cheeks were crimson.
"Indeed. I know just what to do with naughty girls like you," the Managing Partner stood up from his desk and approached her. Shannon could not meet his gaze and stared at her feet as she shifted her weight from foot to foot.
